What can you do with your old paperback books now that you have the digital version on your Nook? Turn them into art of course. Installation artist and sculptor Alexis Arnold has transformed some of her old books and magazines into gorgeous geological masterpieces. By saturating boiling hot water with borax detergent powder and immersing the books into the solution, crystals grow and harden to preserve the books in whatever shape she chooses. The sparkling mineral crystals upon the colorful pages of magazines look like geological gems from another planet.

Regarding why she chose to use crystallization in her art, Arnold has said:

The crystal growth highlights or creates the aesthetics of these once-utilitarian objects that are entering the world of obsolescence, as well as acts to suggest past narratives and post-human futures laden with nostalgia, wonder, and the interminable progression of time.

Arnolds’ crystallized novels would make the perfect gift for those avid readers and geologists who have everything. She has been showing her work since 2004 and received her MFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute. Check out her website for more crystals, impressive installations, and even a line of creative furniture.